BBC’s iPlayer App Finally Nearing Release

Remember those plans for a BBC iPlayer mobile and iPad app? Nearly 12 months after they were announced and six months after they were green-lighted after the BBC Trust intervened, they’re still M.I.A..

But the corporation’s popular catch-up TV service is now nearing its release on iOS, paidContent:UK understands.

The product should be available by the time future media and technology director Erik Huggers leaves the BBC for Intel (NSDQ: INTC) at the end of February.

That would make it one of Huggers’ last acts as the BBC’s top digital exec – apart from the strategy that cuts back BBC.co.uk’s 400+ websites in to 10 services, trims 25 percent from the online budget and lays off 360 staff.

Mobile users made four percent of iPlayer programme requests in December, when the services peaked at a record 145 million monthly requests.

The service’s web-native version already works on iPhone and iPad, to a fashion. Executable app versions are likely to work a lot better.

Some Android users have complained about lack of plans for their smartphones.

The service will be available only in the UK, though BBC Worldwide is planning an international, subscription iPlayer containing different shows.